Ahmad ... spoke of having to hide school books for fear of being discovered studying a forbidden topic.

AFGHANISTAN -- For the majority of my notes back home I have chronicled the lives of soldiers, like myself, detailing our trials and tribulations here in Afghanistan.

It is the perspective I see the most and have the greatest affinity toward. However, I thought this time it might be informative to shine some light on some unsung heroes, two of our coalition teammates, specifically Afghans.

For the past 3 months I have had the privilege of working with two local Afghan men, both in their late twenties that are assigned to my office as Afghanistan Business Advisors (ABA).

In their capacity, as part of my staff, they are responsible for vetting Afghan vendors to ensure that their business documents are in order, assist in pre-construction and negotiation meetings (often times outside the wire), translation, and coordination with ministry officials.

To do this they travel from their homes in the surrounding areas early in the morning, subjecting themselves to a quarter mile serpentine walk through concertina wire and concrete barriers, heavily fortified entry points, a variety of personal checks by armed Afghan Army and coalition members, and most seriously, targeting by local factions aimed at disrupting the mission of the United States and coalition forces.

Both young men go through this daily routine 6 days a week in hopes that their contribution helps the future of their family, village, and country.

My first ABA member, for security sake, Ahmad, remembers very vividly the days of the Taliban rule, he was a high school student who saw all his favorite subjects; math, history, geography, overnight banned under penalty of public lashing or worse.

Always he had faith he said that one day the oppressive regime would leave, and so in preparation for higher education, he, along with other students, went to former teacher’s homes late at night to learn and be taught, all at great personal risk.

He spoke of having to hide school books for fear of being discovered studying a forbidden topic. Living for a time in Kabul with his family, he recalls the day that Taliban tribesmen came with a knock on the door and a declaration that their house was now assigned to a government official and to vacate their home within the hour with whatever belongings they could carry.

Walking to a family member’s house across town, burdened with clothes and personal possessions, he spoke of the utter unfairness of it and disregard for human decency, a memory that still burns within today.

My second ABA member, for security sake, Hawad, traveled with his family from Kabul to the western province of Herat to flee the violence and oppression of the Taliban government.

The western part of the country has a large Persian influence due to the proximity of Iran, as such the villages banded together under various warlords to challenge the Taliban.

He recalls as a young child the celebration when the Taliban were forced to flee, his biggest memory, with a smile, being the all night opening of barber shops as men shaved beards and trimmed their hair, something forbidden under the Islamic extremists.

In our own American history we are taught of the struggles our ancestors suffered in the hope that one day the collective life of the country and the inherent rights of its countrymen would be better than the day before.

I am reminded that despite great odds our forefathers’ dreams have largely been realized.

Afghanistan’s history is still being written, much work remains to be done, but working beside Ahmad and Hawad I am filled with hope for their future and that of their country, their desire for peace, prosperity, and, yes, laughter are not too different than our own…past-present-and future. I wish them well.

Maj. Ken Arnold, an Alabama National Guardsman and former City
Councilman from Huntsville, is serving his second deployment to
Afghanistan and writing an occasional column from the war zone for
AL.com. E-mail him at ken.arnold1@us.army.mil

Related Stories

Columnists

Alabama prisons

Through a series of interactive workshops, people shared their concerns about crowded prisons, listed possible actions and identified costs and consequences. What emerged from this exercise are these three possible approaches.